The Police prosecutor, Peter Nwangwu told the court that the accused persons committed the offences on December 13, 2018 at 2, Okunneye Street, Ikotun-Egbe, a Lagos suburb.

Nwangwu said that the accused persons conspired with others now at large to commit the crime.

Nwangwu alleged that Madu, sometimes in 2014, unlawfully acquired two tablet machines, two blister machines and other equipment for the purpose of operating an illegal drug factory without license or any formal training.

It was gathered that the accused persons were earlier arrested by the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) on Nov.23 2018.

According to the police, the factory was raided by IRT and the four accused persons were arrested.

The Force Headquarters spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, said Madu was the owner of the factory known as Cabara.

Moshood said the operatives received credible intelligence report and acted on it in uncovering the hidden fake factory where substantial production, packaging and distribution of suspected fake drugs to different parts of the country was being carried out.

“The police recovered cartons of different fake drugs, large quantity of unprocessed chemical substances used in manufacturing drugs, machines for processing, manufacturing and packaging of these drugs as well as forged pharmaceutical papers.

“Plastic buckets of different types suspected to contain fake drugs were also recovered,” Moshood said

The prosecutor said that the offences contravened the provisions of sections, 160 (1), (a), (b), 252 and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

After the charges were read to the accused persons, they pleaded not guilty.

In her ruling, the Magistrate, Mrs Yewande Aje-Afunwa, admitted the four accused persons to a bail of N1million each with two responsible sureties each in like sum.

Aje-Afunwa ordered that one of the sureties must be a blood relation to the accused persons.

She added that the sureties must be gainfully employed and show evidence of two years tax payment to the Lagos State Government as part of the bail conditions.